I'm tempted to go and ride, but I've never raced before. I've easily done 15-mile and longer rides at a good pace in traffic, but that's stopping and going, slowing down and speeding up. I'm not sure if I could ride strongly over that distance in a race or if I'd just get tired after a few laps. I'm riding fixed gear, but I guess that doesn't matter. I've heard of fixed gear riders doing well in the race. Maybe I just need to ride down there some night soon and try it outů

If you've got an opinion, words of encouragement or discouragement, let me know. I'd be particularly interested to hear about "regular" riders (meaning not road racers in training) in the crit and how you did your first time out.

Thanks for the info. I was making the incorrect assumption that it would be more roadies doing the crit for training; same for Wells AVE.

What's the pace like? I went out there early yesterday afternoon to test myself. The stopwatch on my phone failed me, but I think I did fifteen laps in about 40 or 45 minutes (~22 mph). (That approximation could be off, but I think it's close.) Stupidly, I rode with my full messenger bag on (u-lock, spare clothes, tools, other junk), so I'd like to think I'd be a bit quicker without it. It also didn't help that I ate a full breakfast right before that. Around lap 8 I started to feel thirsty and I was feeling a little sluggish around lap 10, but I powered through it.

The wind on the Drydock AVE stretch was kind of tough. Is it usually like that? I was riding clockwise, out toward the end of the pier on Drydock and then back toward Summer ST on Black Falcon AVE. Does the race go clockwise or counter-clockwise?